ABR certifying exam

The ABR certifying exam is the second of two exams necessary for certification in diagnostic and interventional radiology in the United States of America (the first is the core exam). It is taken 15 months after the end of the PGY 5 year (or three months after a one year PGY 6 fellowship).

The exam is computer-based and is five hours long.

The exam has five modules:

noninterpretive skills (NIS)

essentials of diagnostic radiology

three clinical practice areas

these are selected by the candidate, and may be chosen from

general radiology

breast imaging

cardiac radiology

gastrointestinal radiology

genitourinary radiology

musculoskeletal radiology

neuroradiology

thoracic radiology

pediatric radiology

ultrasound

nuclear medicine

vascular and interventional radiology

the three clinical practice areas may contain more than one of any module (e.g. a candidate could choose two thoracic modules and one neuroradiology module)... but the second module of an area is more difficult than the first

The first exam was administered in October 2015. The exam was graded as pass or fail, without the "conditional" category in the core exam.

The exam is offered in both Chicago, Illinois and Tucson, Arizona.

This exam replaces elements of the old ABR "written boards" and "oral boards", which were discontinued in 2013.